Anyone that blogs knows it is tough to do and this week I just wasn’t feeling very inspired to write about painting, colour or worse – drywall (bet you can’t wait for that one). Knowing I needed to get something out there just made writing that much harder.

So I walked away from my multiple duties and went to spin class. If you have never heard of spin class, picture a room full of stationary bikes, fans, towels, water bottles, loud music, and an instructor trying to get a room full of sweaty people to ride a bike that doesn’t go anywhere, up a hill that doesn’t exist. I love it and it helps me focus. As I was climbing what seemed like a never ending hill, I tried to distract myself from the burn by thinking about a worse burn – that empty screen waiting at my desk. Just then my instructor asked, “what inspires you?” Man, is she good. And then the music changed.

It was Emimen, Lose Yourself. It is the music in the Chrysler commercial that debuted on Superbowl Sunday. I am loving that commercial. I love the message and it is serious inspiration for me these days. Every time I see it I am reminded to stay on course. Do my job. Do it better. Expect more. Deliver more.

There is a line in that commercial that says, “Yes, we have become an underdog, but no, we will not be asking you to lower your standards to buy a car made here. We will, in fact, be asking you to raise them.” Detroit has had more than its share of tough times and Chrysler has made a choice. Instead of decreasing the value in their product, Chrysler is increasing it. Instead of making a cheaper car and selling it for less, they are selling a better car and selling it for what it is worth. Again and again, it comes back to value for dollar. They ultimately believe in what they are capable of and have decided that is who they are and this is what they do. Period.

Quality Vancouver Painters: Value For Your Dollar!

In the painting industry we are seeing some ridiculously reduced pricing and a very competitive marketplace. In house, a regular topic of conversation is pricing and how to compete against serious underbidding. But there is a cost for doing a job right and you can’t go below that cost without compromising either value or quality or eventually going out of business. I don’t know about you but I didn’t build a business to find out how much money I could lose. I don’t think Chrysler did either.

I can’t be everything to everybody and we can’t be everybody’s painter. Especially for those that quality is a distant second to a dirt-cheap price. But I do know that there are enough people out there that respect and appreciate quality work, even in painting, and are willing to pay a fair price for that service. That doesn’t mean Warline is the most expensive painter out there either. Not by a long shot. We are middle of the road in cost but top of our game in quality. So the answer to our own question about how to compete today is it to do what we do best at Warline – focus on quality. Do our job and do it better. Deliver more than what a customer expects. Because you know what? That is who we are and that is what we do. Period.